KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent (CMC):

The eldest son of Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves is to become the island's next Ambassador to the United Nations, Foreign Affairs Minister Sir Louis Straker has confirmed.

Camillo Gonsalves, 35, an attorney by profession, is set to replace Margaret Hughes Ferrari, who has been the island's representative since 2001.

His appointment has not been officially announced, but Sir Louis confirmed his appointment to the Caribbean Media Corporation.

A reluctant Sir Louis said that he had rather make a formal announcement first but could not deny that Camillo Gonsalves had been selected to the post.

ST. GEORGE'S, Grenada (CMC):

Prime Minister Dr. Keith Mitchell has filed a lawsuit against former Attorney General, Lloyd Noel, as controversy continues over the citizenship status of the head of the government.

"The Office of the Attorney General has filed a lawsuit against lawyer Lloyd Noel for libellous statements against the Prime Minister. Mr. Noel wrote in a publication and later repeated his claims on television, that Prime Minister Mitchell is a U.S. citizen. Mr. Noel's statements also implied that the Prime Minister is occupying the Office of Prime Minister illegally," the brief statement from the Office of the Prime Minister said.

In his column, Noel has said he had received information from the Department of Homeland Security in the United States regarding the status of the Prime Minister.

The former Attorney General under the People's Revolutionary Government writes a weekly column on law and politics for the Internet and newspaper.

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC):

High Court judge Mark Mohammed has dismissed an application by the leader of the Jamaat Al Muslimeen group, Yasin Abu Bakr, that he be awarded costs for successfully getting a stay of his trial on sedition andterrorism charges.

In an unprecedented application, lawyers for the Muslim leader had sought costs that are normally awarded in civil courts.

Attorney Wayne Sturge had argued that his client should be awarded costs, noting that if he had gone to the constitutional court he would have succeeded in his motion, and that court would have referred the matter to the criminal court.

He said he had gone directly to the criminal court because it was the best forum to deal with the issue of adverse pre-trial publicity.

NEW YORK (CMC):

The lawyer for the Guyana-born alleged mastermind behind the plot to blow up the John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, has asked a United States federal judge to allow a psychological examination of his client.

Andrew Carter has asked Justice Dora L. Irizarry of Federal District Court in Brooklyn to allow the test to determine Russell M. Defreitas' "intellectual limitations".

Carter told the court on Thursday that Defreitas, 63, understands that he has been charged in a terrorist plot but "cannot read" and may have a "fairly low intelligence".

"His analytical abilities are somewhat limited," Carter said.

Defreitas, who is also a United States citizen, has been in federal custody since early June when he was arrested at a Brooklyn diner, and charged with conducting surveillance in a plot to blow up the fuel tanks and a capillary system of pipes that runs beneath the airport and a large swath of Brooklyn and Queens.

ST. JOHN'S, Antigua (CMC):

Members of the Antigua and Barbuda Defence Force were being used to beef up security following a number of incidents during the ongoing Carnival celebrations here.

Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer said the decision to deploy soldiers had been taken during a meeting on Thursday with Justice Minister Collin Derrick and senior military and police officials.

"We've reviewed the situation in light of certain recent developments and we've asked for some collaboration between the police and the Defence Force, and some other measures that we've taken in the hope that we'll really and truly have a non-violent, very peaceful carnival," Spencer said.

Spencer said he hoped the new measures would help keep the situation under control.

"So far it has gone well. We've had one or two incidents but I don't think that those should necessarily be looked at as detracting from the idea of making carnival 2007 a memorable one and a non-violent one."

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, (CMC):

The Trinidad and Tobago Manufacturing Association (TTMA) has called on the Patrick Manning government to ensure that local manufacturers "are afforded full, fair and reasonable opportunity" to tender for major projects in the country.

"The association makes the call in light of several complaints from members claiming that they were being left out of the bidding process for the provision of goods and services on some of the major construction projects currently under way," the TTMA said in a statement.